1. Week 12 Takeaways
Me:
-The Los Angeles Rams are in trouble. BIG trouble. Their $112 million “franchise” QB Jared Goff has been exposed as a QB who is only as good as his offensive line is, as evidenced by the decline of that unit and his 0 TD/5 INT, 4 fumble, 58.9 passer rating month of November. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. WHY? First, they’re going to be hamstrung by the salary cap next season. According to OverTheCap.com, they will have over $95 million tied up into four players: Goff, Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley (who is WAY past his prime due to his arthritic knee), and Brandin Cooks…and dead cap charges make it impossible to release any of them. Next, most of their estimated $26 million in cap space will likely have to go toward re-signing Jalen Ramsey, for whom they traded away their 2020 AND 2021 first round picks. Thus, due to the lack of financial capital and high-end draft capital, it’s going to take a miracle of miracles for them to rebuild that OL and help get Jared Goff back on track these next few seasons…and to top it off, their best OL (Andrew Whitworth) is likely retiring after this season. NOBODY should be surprised if the Rams end up in the NFC West cellar as early as next season.
Matt: Three top teams did not play well: Patriots, Saints, Packers
2. Truth/Exaggeration
-The Giants and Lions should put Saquon Barkley and Matthew Stafford, respectively, on the shelf for the remainder of the 2019 season
-The Tennessee Titans biggest offseason priority should be extending Ryan Tannehill
-Although Jason Garrett deserves to be fired, Jerry Jones remains the Cowboys biggest problem
-The Jaguars should go back to Gardner Minshew at QB to close out the season, especially if Nick Foles continues to lay eggs
-Lamar Jackson has now pulled ahead of Russell Wilson in the 2019 NFL MVP race
3. Coaching Carousel: Fire or Retain?
-Bengals: Zac Taylor
-Giants: Pat Shurmur
-Falcons: Dan Quinn
-Jaguars: Doug Marrone
-Lions: Matt Patricia
4. Game of the Week: 49ers at Ravens
-What makes this game so unique (aside from it being a potential Super Bowl preview) is that it’s a battle between an unstoppable force (Lamar Jackson and the Ravens O) against an immovable object (49ers defense). And BOTH sides have players and schemes that can PERFECTLY exploit weaknesses and nullify strengths of the other, don’t they?
-Is this arguably the biggest game of Jimmy Garoppolo’s career to date? Like if the Ravens score early and often, this will likely be the game where he MUST prove that he can go toe-to-toe with elite QB’s in a shootout
-Key matchups: Fred Warner vs. Lamar Jackson, D.J. Jones vs Ravens backup center
-Game picks
5. Game Predictions
-Bears at Lions
-Bills at Cowboys
-Saints at Falcons
-Browns at Steelers
-Jets at Bengals
-Eagles at Dolphins
-Titans at Colts
-Packers at Giants
-Redskins at Panthers
-Buccaneers at Jaguars
-Rams at Cardinals
-Chargers at Broncos
-Raiders at Chiefs
-Patriots at Texans
-Vikings at Seahawks
7. BOLD PREDICTIONS
ME: Cole Beasley goes berserk against his former team on Thanksgiving catching 10 passes for 150 yards and 2 TD
MATT: Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs combine for 300 yards and 3 TD’s
8. Challenge Flags
ME: Texans. Don’t make the same mistake the Cowboys did and scheme creative ways to get DeAndre Hopkins open against Stephon Gilmore
MATT: Browns. PROVE you’re not the same old Browns!!
